Fishing reel



P 2 1951 E. .c. MAYHEW 2,569,322

' FISHING REEL Filed Oct. 2, 1946 INVENTOR Z7 1.10 0. Maw/5w ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 25, 1951 The Sterling Manufacturing Company, Torrington,.Conn., 'a 'corporation of Connecticut Application October 2, 1946, Serial No. 700,648

1-Claim. (Cl. 24284.6)

This invention relates to angling apparatus, and more particularly to a fishingreel for use in fly casting.

An object is to provide an improved form-of Z-shaped click spring which will be proof against breakage and will have longer life than'previous types of click springs.

With this and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing,

one form in which the invention may conveniently be embodied in practice.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 represents a transverse sectional view of the improved fishing reel taken alongthe broken line l--l of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing one of the spring clicks in operating position, and the other spring click twisted 90 degrees into inactive position.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the fishing reel taken through the handle, the spool, and the casing. I

Fig. 3 is an end view of the on a, smaller scale. I

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinalpenlarged fishing reel; shown sectional view of the central part of the fishing reel, showing the interior construction of the oil channel, the ball valve spring, the set screw; the spool screw, and the retaining capfor the latter.

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote'corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral! 9 in-I dicates a spool of usual construction, having a hollow swiveled handle ll near the-outer end thereof, said handle being secured to said spool by a tapped stud I2 having a knurled inner end I3 embedded in the interior of said spool during the manufacture thereof.

The hollow handle II is adapted to be locked in position by means of a screw 84 having a head I 5 and a screw driver kerf l6-said screw having a threaded inner section is engaged in a tapped outer section of the stud l2 and serving to hold the handle I l against a shoulder ll offset from the surface of the spool 16.

The spool I0 is adapted to rotate within a casing frame 19 provided on one side with a chairholding rod plate 20 for attaching the frame 59 to a fishing rod (not shown).

The spool I0 is also provided with an interior hollow stainless steel bushing 2| rigidly mounted therein, and adapted to rotate upon a hollow stationary central shaft 22, which is provided with a knurled end 22a for rigidly connecting said shaft with the casing frame 59 during the manufacture thereof.

The central portion of the hollow shaft 22 is provided on its surface with an elongated annular oil retaining groove 23 (see Figs. 2 and 4) The spool I0 is adapted to be rotatably connected to the shaft 22 by means of an end screw 24 having a threaded section 25 engaged in the tapped interior of said shaft 22 (Fig. 4). The spool screw 24 has a shoulder 26 of slightly larger diameter than the threaded section 25 thereof, .and a head 2'! of still larger diameter. The head 27 is provided with a reduced outer end 28 having a kerf slot 29 for engagement by a screw driver or coin, for assembly or disassembly. The spool screw 24 is prevented from loss, in case it should accidentally become loose, by means of a protecting cup-shaped cap 30 having a central circular aperture 3| freely" embracing a reduced end 28 of the screw head 21. V v

The cap 30 is adapted to lie flush with and is spaced from the reduced end 28 of the head 21, and as clearly shown on the drawing, the outer rim of said cap is fitted tightly within a counterbore 32 at the center of the spool l0. 7

Located in the tapped interior of the hollow shaft 22 is a short screw 33 which engages one end of a coiled spring 34-the other end of said spring engaging a ball valve 35 which seats in'an oiling aperture 36 in the end of said shaft 22 The hollow shaft 22 is provided with a trans- .verse oil hole 31, which permits lubricating Oil to flow outwardl to the exterior of said shaft into the interior of the bushing 2|;

In order to produce the usual clicking sounds during the rotation of the spool I0 in either direction, provision is made of a click gear 38, rigidly mounted on the bushing 2 I, said click being engageable by a pair of clicks 3'9, 40, of generally triangular shape, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

Each of the clicks 39, 40 is provided with rounded outer corners 4|, 42, and 43, 44, and V-shaped gear-engaging points 45, 46, and said clicks are secured to said casing l9 by headed click screws 41, 48.

Each click 39, 40 is adapted to be engaged on its flat edges by an improved form of Z-shaped click springs 49, 50, which is provided with looped sections 5|, 52, curved outer extremities 53, 53, curved intermediate sections 54, 54, and flat inner click-engaging sections 55, 55.

The click springs 49, are adapted to be held in operating position upon the casing frame H! by means of a pair of headed screws 56, 57, the heads of which engage in the looped sections 5! of said springs.

Under each of the clicks 39, 40, provision is made of friction-reducing bosses 58, 58, which are integral with the casing frame 19. Similar bosses (not shown) may also be employed, if desired, under the intermediate loop sections 51 of the springs 49, 50, for supporting the heads of the holding screws 58, 51.

It is to be noted that the springs 49, 50, being longer and freer than analogous springs employed in the art, have their stresses due to operation of the clickers spread over a much longer length, thereby minimizing the possibility of fatigue failure at any particular portion thereof. It is further to be noted that when the reel is rotated clockwise, (using the top click as in Fig. 1), the spring 49 pivots mostly at '52, whereas when rotated counter-clockwise, the spring action tends to take place at 56 and there is lesser bending at 52. By reason of this change of operation of the spring upon reversal of the reel the lif of the spring is greatly enhanced. At the same time such a Z-shaped spring and pawl arrangement results in the desired two different degrees of drag on the reel, the stronger drag occurring when rotating the reel in a counter-clockwise direction, which is the direction of rotation for unwinding.

Operation When it is desired to operate the fishing reel, the spool will be turned by means of the handle II for winding in or paying out the fish line, the action of the click springs 48, 50 being such that when the spool is turned rearwardly, more force will be required to operate the click than when it is turned forwardly as customary with fishing reels of this type.

One advantage of the present invention is that the fishing reel may easily be converted from right handed to left handed operation by turning both of the clicks 39, 40 through an angle of 90 degrees, it being understood that normally only one of said clicks will engage the click gear 38 at one time.

A further advantage is that by providing a pair of clicks in the reel, a spare click will always be on hand as said clicks are interchangeable.

The spring pressure on the oil-filling ball valve may be easily controlled by adjusting the position of the short screw 33.

While there has been disclosed in this speci- 4 fication one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure, but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

In a fly-casting reel, a casing frame, a central shaft secured thereto, a spool mounted to rotate on said shaft, a ratchet wheel rigidly carried on said spool, a substantially triangular fiat click pawl pivotally mounted on said frame and disposed for coaction on an apex thereof with said ratchet wheel, abutment means on said frame, a double bent substantially Z-shaped flat spring, and means on said casing frame to retain one angle portion of said spring in substantially fixed relation to said frame, said spring and said retaining means being so disposed that the open end extremity of said spring extending from said retaining means engages said abutment means on said frame, and the other extremity of said spring engages the side of said click opposite said apex.

ELTON C. MAYHEW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain 1913 

